Robert Fennig would graduate from Geneva High School in 1938. Robert would be drafted on December 5th, 1942 by the U.S Army. Robert entered service on December 12 and began training. He would be trained at Camp Phillips, Nashville, and Fort Meade. Through this training, he would become a new man: Private First Class Robert Lee Fennig of the United States Army. Robert Fennig would be sent over seas in November of 1943. He would become an infantryman of the 6th Armored Infantry, First Armored Division, Company A. The 1st Armored Division had been fighting in North Africa before he had joined them. They would fight the Battle for Djebel Achtel (May 5-11, 1943) in North Africa before the Germans surrendered Tunisia to the allies on May 13, 1943. The division was then reorganized in French Morocco. They then landed on Naples, Italy on October 28. The unit was then under the command of the U.S. 5th Army and after the fall of Sicily, they moved to mainland Italy where Robert would join them in November. He and his division would take Fennig2.JPGpart in the attack of the Winter Line in Italy. They then advanced swiftly through Italy until they liberated Rome on June 4, 1944. His sister, Mrs. David Bauman, would receive a letter from him that dated July 6 saying he had marched through Rome. On July 7th, 1944, as Robert and his division were advancing past Rome, PFC Robert Lee Fennig would be killed in action by a land mine. His division, however, would continue through Italy, and fight in engagements in the Po Valley until the end of the war in Europe, in which the Germans surrendered in May of 1945. Robert would be buried at an American Cemetery in Florence, Italy. For his service, PFC Fennig would receive the American Campaign Medal, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal, and the Purple Heart for his sacrifice for his country. Information researched and collected by Carson Ross, 2015.
“1st Armored Division.” usmilitariaforum.com. N.p., 7 Nov. 2006. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
Indiana Historical Bureau. “Fennig, Robert Lee.” War History Commision. Bloomington: n.p., 1949. N. pag. Print. Vol. 1 of Gold Star Honor Roll: Adams County.
U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949. N.d. Ancestry Classroom. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
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